Yar Yar

COUNTRY:Uzbekistan
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Uzbek

In Uzbekistan “Yar Yar” is a genre of musical laments associated with funerals, sung most traditionally in the house of a deceased person while preparing the body for burial. In our classes we take this complex tradition and embrace the positive, using our “yar yar” as an opportunity to remember our loved ones. (“I will remember you my dear, I’ll remember . . . ‘yar yar.’) This song also inspires us to try Uzbek folk dancing, and therefore celebrate life.

Uzbek folk dance, which most publicly takes place at an event called a TOY that marks festive life-cycle events like a marriage, is, traditionally, a gender-segregated affair. Most Uzbek dances involve arm motion rather than intricate footwork, though there is apparently is room for the occasional stomp.

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